24. Garage progress...

The side of the house has been left in a bit of a mess from previous alterations.

The offending brickwork is removed and the original brickwork prepared for repointing.

Reclaimed bricks from elsewhere on the job are used to close the doorways.

A redundant window is removed...

...and the remaining brickwork and repointing completed. Just as though the openings never existed.

Hardcore for the floors is levelled and compacted...

...the damp proof membrane laid...

...and the concrete garage floor installed.

Dpm and insulation installed for the new utility room...

...and finally the concrete floor installed.

Unfortunately, funds are now running low so I'm back to my day job and the house project is moved onto the backburner. Not as much progress as I would have liked this summer - let's hope I can earn enough cash over the winter to bring in some hired help!

23. Roof Terrace

One of the jobs which I didn't manage to complete last year is the installation of the roof terrace. I have taken advantage of some recent good weather to get it done:

First job is installation of the floor joists (which also form the ceiling of the living area).

Firring strips give the correct fall to the deck. We want a terrace, not a swimming pool...

An opening is made in the parapet wall and a hopper installed to take away rainwater.

The roof deck is then laid. 18mm T&G OSB glued on all four edges ensures a nice rigid floor.

Upstands are installed all round...

...the EPDM covering is laid out ready for installation...

...then glued into place.

Still some work to do installing the vents, flashing and copings but at least we are watertight.

22. A Rainy Day

Friday was a bit of a washout this week so rather than get soaked working on the extension, I decided to build a little kart for my one-year-old from scraps of wood left over from the roof.

Can I take your order, Sir?

The timber is cut to size.

The finished kart. Total cost £1.73. I had to buy the castors from Toolstation.

Wheeeeee!

Brrrrmmm....

21. Water main

One of the disadvantages advantages of completely renovating an old house is that one job often reveals another which needs attention. All the digging for the new drainage has exposed the original lead pipe which supplies the house with water. It's not in good condition and is leaking in a couple of places so the decision is made to replace it.

The old lead pipe is corroded in several places.

One trip to the hire shop later and I am back with this baby to cut a trench through the tarmac drive.

The floor saw is returned after doing it's job and I am back to the old pick and spade for the rest.

The connection to the mains supply in the street is exposed after much digging.

The new pipe is laid...

...and connected to the mains supply.

At least now we will be happy that the water supply isn't contaminated with lead and that we're not wasting water through leakage. Time for a cuppa methinks...

20. Drainage

It's been a while since my last post so I thought I'd take a few minutes to bring things up to date...

A Saturday morning sees the brickies lay around 300 solid concrete blocks to bring us up to floor level on the garage. Those things weigh around 15kg each so I'm glad they brought their own labourer...

I get started on backfilling and digging out the old inspection chamber.

A new inspection chamber is installed to accept connections from the new ensuites and kitchen extension.

The new trench for the ensuite passes under the existing floors...

...as does the one to the new kitchen.

The new pipework is laid, completing the modifications to the foul drainage.

A new storm drain inspection chamber is installed to connect to the new and relocated downpipes.

More digging of trenches...

...and a further inspection chamber to accept surface water from the patio area and workshop roof.

More digging and pipe laying completes the modifications to the storm drains...

...and finally backfilling can commence.

It's been four weeks of hard digging but at least the weather has been fine for most of it. Now to fill it all back in...

19. I'm back...

After around 8 months of working every hour available in my day job, finally I can take a bit of time out to get things moving on the house project. Next on the agenda is a shiny new garage. Although as usual, first there's some demolition to do...

This is how things looked last year. As you can see, the old glass roofed garage is looking a bit shabby. As well as leaking like a sieve. That's my dad modelling a length of 4"x3".

First job is to remove that leaking roof.

Then up comes the floor. Another skipload of concrete to get rid of.

The building inspector isn't happy for us to build off the old garage walls so they have to be completely removed. Along with the foundations.

A heavy downpour causes the trench to collapse so some old slabs come to the rescue to hold things up.

More digging. The trench for the new foundations has to be dug out in sections to protect the neighbouring property. It's not easy to dig the soil out 1.5m down but finally the building inspector is happy.

After concreting, the sections inbetween can be dug out. Ensuring the neighbour's house doesn't fall into my trench.

Finally after much digging, the concrete goes in. My trusty spade is about an inch shorter and my wallet £420 lighter. Ouch.

18. Some roof tiles.

The roofer is back to retile the whole roof including the extension.

After a short delay due to the unpredictable British weather, the ridge tiles go on. They make a neat job of the pointing so I am happy. Meanwhile, I fit new guttering, downpipes...

...and the Solatube which will provide light for the new ensuite.

The scaffold is finally removed, revealing the extension for the first time. I am happy with the results, although some windows and doors would be nice...

It's a big change from how things looked back in April.

Unfortunately, there's been a big change to the balance of our bank account too. Which means as of Monday, I'm back to doing some real work (well, paid work at least). I sense this blog will be running for some months yet....